False Legends
by Nate Z
Summary: The events of the second Pokemon movie retold with Cap and his friends at ground zero. Nothing will be the same.
1. Trailer

**Narrator:** "The Power of One."

footage of the end of the movie, with Ash riding Lugia. Happy, cheerful music is playing.

**Narrator:** You remember what happened.

Then the screen goes black. Ominous music starts to play. Then a creepy voice is heard.

**Narrator:** But what if the threat was greater?

some scenes of Mekkana flash by, some of which it is fighting with the other birds and/or Lugia

**Narrator:** What if the villains were deadlier?

Quick shots of Grendel, Jekyll and Mandarin

Then, against a pure white background, Ash and Pikachu are shown rotating

**Narrator: **And what if the fate of the world rested in the hands of someone else?

Ash and Pikachu finish rotating to reveal Cap and Sandshrew. The camera cuts to Sandshrew. The ground mouse notices the camera and says:

**Sandshrew:** Pika-pika, you little–

Camera cuts away before Sandshrew can finish. Fast pace "action" music plays as a series of scenes flash by. Slade rescuing Melody on Pidgeot. Sandshrew evolving. Cap riding on War Hawk. Nate spilling hot chocolate on himself. Quest standing with Wyldcat, Cykill and Magneton. Raichu with glowing red eyes. Tekkadragon roaring and spewing fire. The birds escaping from the fortress. Jekyll holding a revolver. A Dragonite attacking Moltres. Cap opening two pokéballs in the same pose as Ash from the original trailers. As the scenes flash past, the Narrator continues:

**Narrator:** Coming soon to a Pokémon site near you, you'll get to see exactly what would happen if Cap, Sandshrew and their friends had to save the world **_instead_** of Ash. Nothing will be the same.

**False Legends**

**Rated PG-13**

Okay, some explanation is in order.

Back when I was writing my Pokémon fic series, I took the time to rewrite the first two movies to include my characters. However, as time went by, my interests shifted, and my Pokémon series took back burner to well, pretty much everything. I keep toying with the idea of finishing it, but it never gets past the planning stages.

But what about the two movies? I put a lot of blood sweat and tears into them. In fact, I believe "False Legends" is one of the best things I've ever written (not to mention the longest). So, I finally decided to post them here.

I will also be posting what I have written of the "core" series as well, in case this story peeks your interest. Though it should be noted that I wrote both movies based on my original series plan, and that has since changed. This series references chapters that will most likely won't happen as the plan and been reworked several times over now. (Good thing it's AU.)

Thank you, and enjoy.


	2. Feature Presentation

            _As soon as I heard about the second movie, I planned to write a version starring Cap, everyone's favorite ground mouse and all their friends. However, unlike my version of the first movie, this one will be very different. For starters, Ash and most of the TV cast will NOT be in it. Characters will die, and STAY DEAD. So, if you're reading this to find out what happened in the original, you should go somewhere else._

_            Also, unlike my other movie rewrite, this never really happened in my series. Events here will have NO effect on future stories. I'm ignoring all the rules too. Even for my own Pokémon. And this story is almost completely improvised. When I started it, I had no idea how it would end. So, get a snack, sit back, and enjoy...._

**_False Legends_**

(I came up with my own title. Like it?)

**_"Do not touch the God of Ice, the God of Thunder, the God of Fire, or the God of Steel. Or the heavens and earth will become enraged, and the world will head towards devastation. The Guardian from the Sea appears to prevent the cataclysm, but will fail without the Chosen One and the world will turn to ash. With the aid of the Chosen One, the Guardian will able to soothe the rage of the gods. Without it, the world is doomed."_**

            The Collector smiled as he finished reading the ancient stone tablet. He stroked it with his ringed fingers. The Collector was a tall man with short green hair. He wore decorative robes and had an air of arrogance about him. He stood in a room filled with gigantic planetary mobiles and other treasures. In front of him was the stone tablet with the legend scribed into it and huge windows that gave a perfect view of the clouds.

            "Any one of these 'gods' would certainly be a valuable addition to my treasures," he said. "But the 'guardian.' There's the real prize."

            There was a tone and a female voice was heard. "Analysis complete."

            The Collector turned and faced a holographic projector on the other side of the room as it displayed an image of Articuno. He walked over as the computer's female voice explained.

            "The 'God of Ice' is the legendary Pokémon, Articuno. According to myth, it was born in the Frozen North, raised by Jynx and protected by Coldiack."

            The image changed into image of Zapdos.

            "The 'God of Thunder' is Zapdos, believed to have been born during a major thunderstorm at the dawn of time."

            It then turned into an image of Moltres.

            "The 'God of Fire' is Moltres. The fire bird is rumored to be the Phoenix of Greek myth."

            The holo projector then shut down.

            The Collector frowned. "And what of this 'God of Steel'? What is it?"

            "Unknown," the computer replied. "There are no records of any such god or Pokémon in the database."

            "Find it," the Collector demanded. "Break into all the computers in the world if you have to."

            "Acknowledged," the computer said.

            "Now," the Collector said, "where are the three known Gods located?"

            "The Arshia Islands, of the Orange Archipelago."

            "Aren't there five Arshia Islands?"

            "Affirmative."

            The Collector walked over and sat down in a large chair that was on a platform. The second he sat down all they way, a hologram of the ocean and five islands appeared in front of him. A large green island was in the center. Surrounding that island were four smaller ones. One blue, one red, one yellow and one white.

            "Moltres," the computer continued, "is located on Fire Island." As it continued to explain, the islands the computer mentioned blinked. "Zapdos and Articuno are located on Thunder and Ice Island respectively. There is also Steel Island," the white island blinked, "and Arshia Island."

            "Steel Island?"

            "Yes, but no life is detected on that Island."

            "Hmm. Very interesting, but I shall have to come back to this later. Which 'god' is closest?"

            "Articuno."

            "Set a course to intersect."

            The Collector's chair then started to raise towards the ceiling, which was painted with clouds and angels. A hole in the ceiling opened and the chair went through into a smaller control room. The camera then zoomed out to reveal the Collector's massive flying fortress.

            Articuno flew back towards its home of Ice Island after its daily hunt for prey. Suddenly, a jet of flame shot past the majestic bird. Shrieking, it turned around and was met by the fortress. Before it could react to the site, another jet was launched, spiraling around the ice god, not unlike a fire spin attack. Articuno screeched and fired an ice beam. Another jet of fire simply intercepted the cold blast, while another encircled the bird again.

            Screaming in pure rage, Articuno broke free and summoned a powerful blizzard attack. However, the attack simply deflected off the fortress's shields. Then, the fortress fired a single, white hot fire ball. Articuno took a direct hit and started to plummet to the ground.

            Two large metal rings launched out of the base. They captured Articuno in between themselves and flew the ice bird back to the base.

            On Arshia, a strange Pokémon watched as Articuno was pulled inside the flying base. It resembled a Slowbro, except the shell was on its head, and it had a red and white frill around its neck.

            "This is serious," it said in perfect English.

            The Collector smiled. "Well, I've captured the first 'god' without much trouble," he said as the image of Ice Island turned from blue to grey. "The others will soon follow. And then. Then I shall capture the real prize.

            "Lugia."

            Sandshrew tensed. Any second now, it would pounce. Then, it happened.

            "Now!" Sharon shouted, swinging her arm in a downward motion.

            Sandshrew sprung into action. With a quick leap, it pounced on Raichu as the thunder mouse tried to land its famous double fisted mega punch. After a barrage of fury swipes, it used Raichu's head as a spring board. As it soared through the air, it curled into a ball, and knocked War Jay, Mariah and Slasher out of the sky. It uncurled and landed on Sin Sai's head, delivering a devastating mega kick. It then jumped to the ground, causing the earth beneath Tiger to explode. The Persian was knocked out cold.

            Sandshrew barely had time to even think about its next move before it was surrounded by fire. Curling up again, it plowed through the fire and into Vixen. It then grabbed the surprised Lullaby, dribbled it, and threw it at Nightmare. The ghost simply caught its friend and brought it safely to the ground. When it looked for Sandshrew, the mouse was gone.

            Before Nightmare knew what was happening, the ground below it started to shake. A curled up Sandshrew exploded out of the ground and collided with the ghost.

            Without waiting to see what happened to the ghost, Sandshrew pounced on U-Fire, slashing, punching and kicking. The mouse moved with such speed that both halves of the 

U-Twos were kept off balance. It then bolted off again.

            Sandshrew only got about a yard before something dripping wet leapt in front of it. Sandshrew looked up to see Seamonstra, glaring down at it. A drop of water fell on Sandshrew's head from Seamonstra's body. The mouse gave a small scream and passed out.

            Cap sighed as he stopped the timer on his stop watch. "One minute," he reported.

            "That's its best time yet," Sharon commented.

            "Yeah," Cap said, "but it ended the same way. It passes out because of its hydrophobia."

            "Fears aren't easily conquered," Sharon said very seriously.

            "Yeah," Cap said as he passed out potions and other healing items to the Pokémon. When he got to Sandshrew, he kicked it and told it stop being so dramatic. The mouse muttered something and walked off. The two trainers and all their Pokémon were spending the day at an old port. Cap had wasted no time in preparing for the Pokémon League. Sharon and her team had been more than happy to help.

            As the Pokémon started to talk, play, and/or fight, Cap walked over to one of the docks. He sat down, his feet dangling over the edge. He opened his jacket and looked at his three badges. He unclipped the Exam Badge and held it up to the sunlight.

            "Your life for your thoughts," Sandshrew said as it trotted up to Cap and sat down a safe distance from the water.

            Cap chuckled as he re-clipped the badge to the inside of the jacket. "I don't get you," he said. "Ever since you pigged out on that candy, you've probably become my most powerful Pokémon..."

            "Probably?" Sandshrew said, raising an eyebrow. "I **am** the best! People and Pokémon alike tremble before the **Power of Ground!**"

            Just then, a laughing U-Water ran by and jumped into the water, followed by a very angry U-Fire.  Sandshrew dived behind Cap to avoid the splash back. Cap rolled his eyes.

            "You were saying?" Cap asked.

            "My point," Sandshrew said, "is that I'm still really weak against water. I mean, splash could probably take me out. However, use me against a fire, electric, or even flying, and they won't know what hit them."

            Cap nodded. "Say, that brings something else: Why haven't you evolved?"

            "I could do that," Sandshrew replied. "I just choose not to."

            "Right," Cap said sarcastically.

            "No, I'm serious. Look!"

            With that, Sandshrew started to glow, but it then closed its eyes tightly and concentrated. The glowing soon stopped. Sandshrew then opened its eyes, breathing a little heavier than usual.

            Cap stared at the ground mouse, eyes wide. "So....you're like a Harmony now?"

            "Kinda," Sandshrew replied.

            Just then, a boat came speeding toward the dock. It seemed to have a fireworks display at the helm and was moving at impossible speed for its size. Alarmed, Cap bolted to his feet and ran for cover. Sandshrew was not far behind.

            The boat managed to stop exactly one centimeter from crashing into the wooden dock. Cap looked out from behind the tree and saw that the driver was a blackened Slade. Pichu sat on his shoulder, muttering in a quiet, apologetic tone.

            "Slade?" Cap asked, running up to the boat. "What are you doing here? What's with the boat?"

            Slade coughed out some smoke and smiled. "She's beautiful, isn't she?" Slade asked, referring to the boat. "I bought it with my first pay check! I thought since you got me the job as a gym leader in the first place, I'd take the day off and let you and your group be part of her first voyage."

            "Can gym leaders take a day off?" Cap asked.

            "Who cares?" Slade asked in response. He then raised an eyebrow. "Hey, Cap, what's with the hunchback?"

            "Huh?" Cap asked, trying to look at his back.

            Sandshrew looked out from underneath Cap's jacket collar. "Sorry," it muttered.

            Later, the ship, simply named the Roc, was on course to the Orange Archipelago for a quick tour. Cap was forced to recall Seamonstra because whenever Pichu saw the monster, it shocked the daylights out of whoever was closest. Surprisingly, Sin Sai had seemed to grow attached to the little electric mouse. However, it nearly killed Sandshrew when the ground mouse pointed this out to everyone.

            Deciding to explore the cabin, Cap went below and was surprised to see Nate sleeping in the bed with his fishing hat over his eyes. Smiling evilly, Cap called Raichu down and whispered his plan in Raichu's ear. Raichu shared his grin and nodded.

            "Oh Sharon," Nate muttered sleepily as Raichu jumped onto his stomach. Raichu then let loose a thunder shock. Nate screamed and tried to jump up, but only banged his head on the ceiling when he sat up. He let out a stream of strange curses and looked at Raichu. He was obviously surprised by what he saw.

            "Raichu?" he whispered. He turned and faced Cap. "Cap! Slag it, I told Slade to get me when he picked you guys up!"

            "What are you doing here?" Cap asked.

            "I was the first person to win the Boulder Badge since Slade became gym leader, so he invited me to come along."

            "I thought you weren't gonna try for the league."

            Nate shrugged and put his hat on correctly. "I was bored. What about you? Last I heard, you were practicing for next year."

            "Sharon talked me into it finally. So, who'd you use?"

            Nate smiled. "_Los Huevos de Muerte._ My old Spanish teacher sent me an Exeggcute from his trip to the Safari Zone. It made short work of Roc."

            Suddenly, the ship lurched to the side, knocking the humans and the Raichu off their feet. They quickly scrambled back up and ran back above deck.

            There was a storm raging outside. The wind almost knocked the three of them back below. Without wasting time, Cap got out his pokéballs and started recalling everyone. He recalled War Jay just before the wind threw it into the ocean. He called back the U-Twos and Sandshrew, who were hanging on the railings for dear life. Sin Sai was rescued from being struck by lightning.

            "Where'd this storm come from?!" Nate shouted.

            "I don't know!" Slade shouted as he struggled to keep control of the boat through the storm and Pichu's continuos shocks. Finally he let go of the wheel and grabbed Pichu. "Raichu! Catch!"

            Slade tossed the small, crying Pichu. Raichu quickly jumped up and caught it. It then let the winds blow it back below deck. Cap quickly followed it. Nate was about to follow when the wind blew off his fishing hat.

            "**_My hat!_**" Nate cried, running after it, only to slip and fall.

            Sharon grabbed the hat and almost threw Nate below. "Why would you risk your life for a hat?" she demanded after they were all safe.

            "I love this hat," Nate said as he put it back on. "I want to give it to my kid."

            "You have a kid?!" Cap asked in shock.

            "No!" Nate said. "I meant when I get older and a job and a wife."

            "Well, if you keep that behavior up," Sharon said, "you won't live long enough to get any of that stuff."

            Once everyone was below, Slade grabbed the wheel again with one hand and reached under his shirt with another. He pulled out a sky blue pokéball and threw it out into the water. A majestic Dragonair appeared in the water with a bright flash.

            "Rage!" Slade called as the ball flew back to his hand. "See if you can calm this storm down!"

            To Slade's surprise, Rage dived under the raging water and started to swim away.

            "What the hell?!" Slade shouted. Right before a wave sent him crashing to the floor, knocking him out cold.

            Sara hummed a pleasant tune as she tended to her garden. She smiled as an Oddish ran past, being pursued by a Bellsprout. She heard someone come up behind her and turned around. She smiled warmly. "Hello, Dr. Nemo," she greeted.

            A bearded man with thick glasses smiled back. Both his beard and hair were black with streaks of grey here and there. He was wearing shorts and a lab coat, which looked rather odd.

            "Good afternoon, Sara," the good doctor replied. "Is Quest around?"

            "Sorry," Sara said. "He left for the Orange Islands this morning."

            "He did?" Dr. Nemo asked, taken aback. "But he hasn't even earned all the Indigo badges yet."

            Sara stood up and brushed off her knees. She was a lovely girl of sixteen. She had long blonde hair and was wearing shorts, a tank top, and a gardening hat. "He probably wanted to get a head start. Is there anything I can do for you?"

            "No, thank you. I merely wanted to take some notes on his Wyldcat and Cykill and he has them with him today."

            Just then, the sky grew dark and it started to rain.

            "Oh, darn," Sara said, kicking the ground. "And it was such a nice day, too."

            "Well, the rain will help your wonderful garden grow," Dr. Nemo said with a chuckle.

            The rain then stopped as suddenly as it began.

            "Odd," Dr. Nemo said, scratching the side of his head.

            Then big white, beautiful snowflakes started to fall.

            "What the...?" Sara said, shocked.

            "Most odd," Dr. Nemo said. "Not only is it summer, but Silicon Valley doesn't get snow. Not even in the winter."

            "I've never seen snow before," Sara whispered just as the snow stopped.

            Then, there was a loud buzzing sound as a swarm of Magnemite and Magneton flew over them. Before Dr. Nemo or Sara could say anything, the swarm was followed by a flock of flying Pokémon. Pidgey, Pidgeotto and Pidgeot. Spearow and Fearow. Harmony and War Jay. Butterfree, Beedrill, Scyther and Venomoth.

            "I didn't know there were that many organic Pokémon here," Sara said.

            "There aren't," Dr, Nemo said.

            "Doctor?" Sara asked. "What's going on?"

            Before Dr. Nemo could answer, the ground started to shake. Swallowing, he turned around and saw an army of Voltorb and Electrode rolling in his direction. Before he could even think of getting out of the way, the balls knocked him into the air. Unfortunately, he landed on top of them and the act of trying to stay on his feet made him look like a ridiculous circus performer. When they finally rolled out from underneath him, he landed hard on his back.

            "Dr. Nemo!" Sara cried as she helped the older man up. "Are you okay?"

            "And I swore my carnival days were over," he muttered with a small smile.

            When Dr. Nemo was back on his feet, both the humans saw that one of the Electrodes had stayed behind. It started to try to explain with fragments of its name.

            "Is that...?" Dr. Nemo asked.

            "Yes," Sara whispered. "That's Quest's Electrode."

            The Electrode finished explaining, and sped off to catch up with the others.

            Then the sky returned to normal and it was like nothing happened.

            "Dr. Nemo," Sara said after a few minutes of silence, "what the hell is going on?"

            "I'm not sure," Dr. Nemo replied. "I know organic Pokémon have a close bond with nature, but I wasn't aware the bond was so strong with mechanical types as well."

            "I wish Quest was here," Sara whispered.

            Dr. Nemo took her hand. "You should come to my lab. If any of his Pokémon are still there, they can help comfort you. And it will be much safer."

            "Moltres detected approaching Ice Island."

            The Collector smiled in his chair. In front of him was a projection of four bird like figures, creating a square with invisible lines. Each had a space of red, blue, yellow, or white around it.

            "Everything was in perfect harmony," he said. Then the blue figure and area vanished. The red, which was right next to the blue, spread to fill the void. "Until now. Now, the God of Fire seeks to claim the land that once belonged to the God of Ice.

            "Won't he be disappointed..."

            Over Ice Island, Moltres started to launch powerful flame tornadoes, melting the island's ice formations. It landed on Ice Island's highest peak and shrieked in victory as it launched jets of fire into the air.

            From inside the fortress, the Collector snapped his fingers.

            "Check."

            As Moltres blasted more fire into the air, the fortress fired a large black sphere. The ball hit Moltres, exploded, and drenched it in a thick, clear liquid. The firebird shrieked in anger and flew toward the fortress. It launched a large, white hot X of fire. However, the attack barely singed the fortress's shield.

            The fortress fired another black sphere. This one covered Moltres with dirt that clung to the liquid and smothered Moltres's fire. As the bird started to fall, two, large metal triangles came out of the base, trapped the bird, and pulled it back inside.

            The shriek of a passing Fearow violently brought Slade back to consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes. Before his vision cleared, he felt his face. "No new scares," he said with relief.

            Cursing, he blinked to bring his vision back to full. It wasn't until then that he realized he was hanging over the edge of the boat, which had crashed onto the shore of an island. He forced himself to stand up and examined himself. His uniform had a few tears in it, revealing small flesh wounds. He reached under his shirt and felt to see if all his pokéballs were still there. He nodded when he found they were.

            "I'm lucky," he muttered. "I wonder how the others are doing..."

            He then saw bright lights coming from below, followed by screams, curses, and Pichu screaming apologies.

            Slade smirked. "They're fine."

            He watched as Cap, Nate, Sharon, and Raichu ran out from below deck. They glared at Pichu as the little mouse ran past them and up to Slade's shoulder.

            Cap blinked. "You're okay!" he exclaimed. "You look like crap, but you're okay!"

            Slade chuckled. "I've been through worse, kid."

            "So, where are we?" Nate asked.

            Sandshrew popped out of its pokéball and jumped off the boat. Cap chuckled as he heard it kissing the ground and muttering "Solid smack sweet smack brown smack **_DRY_** smack ground!" He then heard it scream and was nearly knocked down when it grabbed his leg. "Save me..." it whimpered.

            "What's it doing?" Nate asked with a raised eyebrow.

            Cap ignored him and limped over to what was left of the ship's railing and looked over. He gave a small scream and fell over backwards.

            "Yeah, Slade," Cap said weakly. "Where are we?"

            Finally, the three remaining humans looked over the side of the boat. They saw a large group of people, all dressed in costumes that looked like something used in a ceremony, made of wood and grass. Most of the costumes resembled birds. The group jumped up and down on the beach, screaming what sounded like a war cry.

            Nate screamed and ran below deck. Pichu shrieked bloody murder and hid behind Slade's head, surprisingly not shocking anything.

            "What do you want?" both Sharon and Slade said at once, stern expressions on their faces.

            "Oh, sorry," said one of the people in a feminine voice. She removed her mask, revealing that she was a woman with short brown hair. She smiled pleasantly. "I guess we got a little too far into character. Welcome to Arshia Island! You've arrived just in time for our annual festival!"

            "Festival?" Sandshrew said suddenly, peeking over the railing. "Does that mean there's cake?"

            "**_CAP!! SHARON!!_**" called a familiar voice. The group looked to see Quest flying toward the boat on Ufo. "What are you doing here?"

            "We crashed," Slade answered.

            "Yeah," Sandshrew added. "Are those shades affecting your eyes, genius?"

            "What about you?" Cap asked.

            Quest landed in front of the boat and jumped off Ufo. "I come here every year," he replied. "I love the festival!"

            "Say, Quest," said the young woman, "why don't you introduce us?"

            "Sure thing Carole," Quest said as he sent Ufo to help everyone down. The first one down was Sharon, who Quest introduced by carefully choosing his words. The next down was Nate, who Quest described as "your typical writer." Before Quest could even send Ufo back up, Slade jumped over the rail and landed in front of Quest.

            "I'm Slade," he said, extending his hand. "We haven't met."

            "Quest!" the mechanical trainer said, shaking Slade's hand. "Me and Cap go way back."

            "Actually," Cap said as he rode Ufo down, "I've known Slade a lot longer. He's an old friend of the family."

            "What's left of it," Sandshrew muttered from Cap's shoulder. Cap swatted it off. Sandshrew landed safely and said nothing, knowing it had crossed a line.

            "And, this," Quest exclaimed, "is Cap! He's one of the finest trainers I've..."

            "Trainer?!" the group of natives exclaimed.

            "Um, yeah," Cap said, slightly scared. "Sorta..."

            "Get ready to run..." Sandshrew said.

            The group of islanders went crazy, shouting and dancing around. A man wearing a mask that resembled Articuno stepped forward.

            "According to the legend," he said, "during the destruction of the world, the Guardian from the Sea shall appear and soothe the rage of the Gods with the aid of the Chosen One!" He pushed up his mask, revealing that he was an old man with a long white mustache.  He turned to Cap. "The Chosen One is a trainer! You are the Chosen One!"

            Cap backed against the boat, obviously freaked out.

            The old man smiled warmly. "Don't worry," he said. "The 'Chosen One' is only a roll in the festival. You don't really have to save the world."

            "Yeah," Sandshrew said. "And if you did, we'd be royally screwed. I mean, you're scared of Gyarados...."

            "A wet Seamonstra," Cap said, rolling his eyes.

            Sandshrew disappeared, leaving only a cloud of dust in its wake.

            "So, Carole," Quest said after a while, "are you doing flute-thing again this year?"

            Carole sighed. "No. I'm too old. This year, my sister, Melody, gets to do it." She gestured to a girl standing above them on a nearby rock formation.

            She was around Cap's age. She had long brown hair and was wearing sunglasses with silver lenses, a hat, jeans, a T-shirt, and was carrying a purse.

            "Don't remind me!" she yelled down to Carole without looking at her. "It's not like I **_want_** to be part of your stupid festival!"

            "Do you hear that?" Carole said to Quest. "Look at her outfit! Mother didn't raise her to be like this! She doesn't have any respect for tradition..."

            "Oh, relax," Melody said as she climbed down. "I've only seen you do it a thousand times! The festival doesn't start till tonight. I'll be dressed in ready in time. Now, where's this chosen one?"

            Melody walked over to Cap and lowered her shades. "Well," she said, "I'd have to say you're the cutest Chosen One we've had in a long time! Welcome!" She took off her shades, gave him a small peck on the cheek, and walked off.

            Cap just stood still, too shocked to move.

            "The huge disasters that are suddenly occurring all over the world have been found to be caused by a disturbance that originated in the Arshia Islands," said the TV news reporter as the screen changed to a computer generated image of a current in the ocean.

            "However," the reporter continued, "despite this fact, Pokémon from all over the world are traveling in that direction." The screen showed all kinds of flying Pokémon soaring above all kinds of water Pokémon, including a few Lickitung, Ekans and a few Raichu surfing on their tails, as they swam in the ocean.

            "Those Pokémon that cannot travel the distance are waiting on the shore, snapping at anyone who approaches...."

            A lone figure turned off the television set with a remote control, leaving him in pitch black. "The ancient prophecy," he said. "It's coming true.

            "The Order no doubt knows what this is as well," he thought aloud. "And the boy will more than likely be involved."

            He stroked the scar where his right eye had once been, and smiled.

            "I cannot think of a better time to make my reappearance."

            Meanwhile, in Doctor Nemo's lab in Silicon Valley, the good doctor was watching the same report on his computer. Sara was sitting on a coach, leaning against Quest's Colossus. He wasn't sure, but he could swear that the robot was stroking her hair. Outside, the wind was howling and it kept changing from rain, to snow, to hail.

            Looking grim, Dr. Nemo closed the window with the report, crossed his arms, and tried to think. He didn't get far before a cruel laughter he knew too well was heard outside. Cursing for the first time in years, he got up, grabbed an umbrella and headed outside.

            "Race!" he called as he unfolded the umbrella. "Race!"

            He found the trainer in question standing in the middle of the open field outside the lab. His arms were across his chest and he was laughing a cruel, sinister laugh that would give Giovanni nightmares.

            "Race, come inside!" Dr. Nemo shouted. "It's not safe! And besides," he scowled, "aren't you worried that your suit will be ruined?"

            Race was always dressed in a thousand dollar suit and always had his long, blond hair slicked back and tied in a ponytail. He had a presence of pure arrogance about him. You would never tell by looking at him, but he was Quest's twin brother.

            "Look, Doctor!" Race said, gesturing in front of him. "Look at them! These are the creatures my brother admires so much? Pathetic!"

            Dr. Nemo looked where Race was gesturing and his eyes went wide. At least a dozen Ufo were flying around wildly, shooting blasts of energy into the air. In the center of the chaos was a single, stationary Starcraft, mechanical eye blinking in random patterns.

            "This is madness," Dr. Nemo whispered as the wind stole his umbrella. He then scowled. "Race, you have two options: come inside or get off my property! I won't have you faking an injury and suing me."

            "Come now, Doctor," Race said, looking over his shoulder at Nemo. "I would never sue you. Where would I send all my Pokémon? No. My vendetta is not with you."

            "Dr. Nemo!" Sara called from the door. "You have a phone call! Computer says it's urgent!"

            Dr. Nemo cursed again and went inside. "Mechazord, watch him," he said when he saw Race had followed him in.

            The giant arsenal Pokémon walked over to Race and watched him closely.

            "I am wounded, Doctor," Race said with a sick grin.

            Dr. Nemo ignored Race and answered the phone call. An image of Professor Oak appeared on the screen.

            "I'd like to say good afternoon," Dr. Nemo said, "but I'm almost sure your situation is as bad as mine."

            "I'm afraid it is," Professor Oak replied. "I'm calling to find out if the mechanical elements are acting the same."

            "Voltorb, Electrode, Magnemite and Magneton are," Dr. Nemo said. "However, the Ufo are creating a fireworks display on my front lawn. I haven't seen any of the other species since this madness began."

            "Hmm," Professor Oak said with a nod. "Professor Ivy has just arrived. I'd appreciate it if you could come to Pallet. We're preparing to take a helicopter to the Arshia Islands and we could use your expertise."

            "I'll see if I can make it," Dr. Nemo said. "I'll call when I know."

            With that, Dr. Nemo hung up and made another call. After a few rings, a face with short brown hair and a pleasant smile answered.

            "Dr. Nemo!" the man said happily. "It's good to see you're alright! What can I do for you?"

            "Hello, Josh," Dr. Nemo replied coldly. "Are all your Starcraft still present and functional?"

            "All of the gym's mechanical Pokémon are still here and working great!"

            "I need you to lend me one."

            "Gladly!" Josh said. "As soon as you tell me where that brat, Quest hid the security cameras."

            "I'll do no such thing!"

            "Then no Starcraft."

            "You disgust me," Dr. Nemo said in an extremely cold tone. "And you dare to call yourself a gym leader..."

            "Those are my terms," Josh said calmly, still smiling.

            "Fine. Send a Starcraft to my lab and..."

            "I'm going too!" Sara said suddenly.

            Dr. Nemo turned to her. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

            "I don't care!" she shot back as she called Colossus into a pokéball. "Quest is out there and I'm going to find him And I'm bringing his Colossus with me!"

            Dr. Nemo smiled a warm smile, admiring her strong will. "Alight," he said finally.

            "I am accompanying you as well," Race said sternly.

            "Fine," Dr. Nemo said. He wasn't thrilled about bringing Race along, but he wasn't thrilled about leaving him alone in the lab, either.

            "Three Starcraft," Dr. Nemo said when he finally turned back to Josh. "Send them here and I'll tell you everything..."

            Much later, back on Arshia Island, everyone was sitting in a stone, temple like building, eating, drinking, talking and generally having a good time. They seemed unaware of the chaos that was happening in the outside world.

            Cap's group sat at one stone table. Sandshrew, which had suddenly reappeared when dessert was served, sat on the table, cramming chocolate cake in its face and guzzling milk. Pichu was eating cherries and grapes, the only food small enough for it. Quest was telling Cap and Sharon about all the adventure's he'd been on and all the Pokémon he had caught since he left them. Slade was dressed in a new uniform and staring out into the ocean while Nate was no where in sight.

            _Where are you Rage?_ Slade thought. _Why can't I sense you?_

            "Hey," Sharon said, tapping him on the shoulder. "What's up?"

            "Nothing," Slade said.

            Sharon chuckled. "You know who you remind me of?"

            Slade smirked. "Who?"

            "Henry."

            "Who?"

            "He's a trainer me and Cap met a couple of times. Quest met him too."

            "And why do I remind you of him?"

            "I don't know. You're both mysterious. You both rarely smile, though you do it a lot more. And you both seem unstoppable in battle. I mean, you mopped the floor with my team. That's not easy to do. I'm not being arrogant either. It's the truth."

            Slade chuckled.

            "The thing is," Sharon continued, "he had these really strange powers. Do you have any strange powers, Slade?"

            Slade suddenly became very serious. "If I told you," Slade whispered, looking Sharon in the eye, "I'd have to kill you." He chuckled and turned back toward the ocean.

            "Nice guy, huh?" Sandshrew said to Sharon.

            Sharon just looked at the mouse.

            "I could fix you two up if you wanted," Sandshrew continued.

            Sharon just shook her head and turned back to Quest's stories.

            "Suit yourself." It belched.

            Just then, beautiful flute music started to play. Everyone turned to see a girl with brown hair, wearing a beautiful dress jump onto the stage. She was playing an odd looking flute that kind of looked like it was made of shells.

            "Is that..." Cap started.

            "Yep," Quest said, looking over his shades. "Hard to believe, but that's Melody. Y'know, kid, she's about your age."

            Cap looked at Quest. "What are you implying?" he asked with a smirk.

            "Nothing," Quest said, smiling and pushing his shades back up. 

            Melody danced a little as she continued to play. When she was done, she bowed and everyone clapped. Melody jumped down from the stage to Cap's  table.

            "When the heavens and earth tremble, and the world heads for destruction, the Guardian from the Sea appears, and shall soothe the rage of the gods with the aid of the Chosen One," Melody said to Cap. She kneeled in from of him. "Cap, if you are truly the Chosen One, please prove it to us."

            "Huh?" Cap said, raising an eyebrow.

            Melody laughed and sat down next to Cap. "Don't worry," she said. "Like they told you earlier, this is all silly tradition. It's for the tourists really."

            "Okay," Cap said. "So, what do I do exactly?"

            "It's not hard," Melody said, standing up. She took four pieces of fruit from the bowl on the table and handed them to Cap. "You bring the four treasures of the islands to highest peak, here, on the main island, and place them on the alter." She jumped up and twirled around. "And then I play my flute as devotion to the gods." She played a short tune. "That's all!"

            "That seems easy enough," Cap said.

            "HA!" shouted Sandshrew.

            Cap ignored the mouse and asked, "Where are the treasures?"

            "In the temples of each island," replied Melody, biting into a pear. "Don't worry. There's a ship to take you to each island, and stairs to each of the temples."

            Cap nodded. "Sounds kinda fun. When do I start?"

            "The festival lasts until tomorrow," Melody said. "You can go in the morning."

            Cap was about to say something when one of his pokéballs popped open. Raichu materialized and ran off.

            "Hey! Raichu!" Cap called as he bolted to his feet. He started to run after Raichu, but stopped. "Come on, Sandshrew! I'll need your help!"

            "Nothing doing," Sandshrew said crossing its little arms. "It's dry here and there's food."

            Cap sighed, grabbed Sandshrew by its tail, and started to drag the ground mouse off.

            "No!" Sandshrew cried, sinking its claws into the table. It left furrows in the stone as Cap continued to pull. "I love you, cake!" Sandshrew cried right before it ran out of table.

            Miraculously, the Roc had suffered almost no damage during the storm. At the time of the party, it was sitting in the dock, with only one passenger.

            Nate, who had never been a fan of parties, was below deck, reading a comic book, "Swingers" #6, and drinking some hot chocolate. The book was really getting exciting when the boat suddenly started, shaking Nate's mug and nearly spilling its contents.

            "Whew," Nate said when he saw that his comic was safe. Then the boat shook violently, like someone had jumped on. This time the chocolate did spill, drenching the issue and turning it brown.

            "**_Noooo!_**" Nate screamed. He got down on his knees, covered his face, and started to weep.

            Cap got on and pulled Sandshrew aboard the Roc just as Raichu started its engine. They pulled out of the dock, but only got about a yard before Slade dropped from the sky, knocking everyone else off balance. Pichu shocked its trainer from his shoulder, but Slade ignored it and walked towards Raichu.

            Raichu was just getting to its feet when it saw Slade coming. "Rai!" it exclaimed as it fired a thunderbolt, knocking Slade back. It started to explain itself using fragments of its name.

            "What's it saying?" Cap and Slade asked at once. Cap's question was directed to Sandshrew while Slade's was directed to Cap.

            Sandshrew sighed. "It's saying 'I'm sorry, but we need to go to Ice Island! I don't know why, but we do! I'm sorry!' etc, etc."

            Cap repeated what Sandshrew told him to Slade. Slade nodded and jumped back to his feet. "I guess we're going to Ice Island then," he said, petting Pichu.

            Quest, Sharon and Melody watched from the dock as Slade's ship departed.

            "Now where do you suppose they're off to?" Quest asked.

            "I don't know," Melody said, "but there's another storm coming. They'll be caught in the middle of it."

            "We have to go after them," Sharon said, a look of determination on her face.

            "Are you nuts?" Quest asked.

            "Maybe," Sharon replied, "but Cap is under my protection. I can't let anything happen to him."

            "What are you?" Melody asked. "His mother or something?"

            Sharon gave Melody a look that seemed to say "How stupid are you?" After a while, she asked aloud, "Are you going to help or not?"

            "Come on!" Melody said, running off. "My sister has a boat. She probably doesn't want us to use it, but it's not like she'll ever find out we took it..."

            "Nate?" Cap asked. "Are you okay?"

            "No!" Nate shouted. "It's ruined! It took me forever to get and it's ruined!"

            "Nate," Cap said in a soothing tone, "it was just..."

            "**_WHAT?!_**" Nate cried, jumping to his feet. "How can you say that?! It was an issue of 'Swingers'!! Was the Mona Lisa just a painting?! Is Mew just another Pokémon?! Was...."

            "Is it just me," Sandshrew said, "or is this guy getting weirder and weirder every time we meet him?"

            "So, do you think Raichu will be okay? Driving the ship, I mean," Cap asked Slade over Nate's ranting.

            "One second," Slade said. He walked up behind Nate and placed Pichu on Nate's head. "Boo."

            Pichu screamed and shocked the hell out of Nate. The ranting teenager fell to the floor, stars in his eyes. "ow," he said weakly.

            "It should be fine," Slade said as Pichu climbed back up to his shoulder. "As long as another storm doesn't come up out of no where."

            As if on cue, the boat lurched to the side, sending everyone off their feet.

            "You just had to say it, didn't ya?" Sandshrew said, glaring at Slade.

            Everyone screamed and was shocked as the boat was picked up and thrown by the wind. The boat crashed hard and Nate was almost stabbed when a rock came ripping though the floor. Everyone was silent as they waited to see if the weather would do anything else.

            Sandshrew, of course, was the first to speak up. "That's it? We landed already? That hardly seemed worth the time."

            "Raichu!" Cap cried suddenly. He ran back above deck and saw the thunder mouse jump over the edge of the boat. He ran over to that edge and saw they were on another island and Raichu was running up a set of stone stairs. "Raichu!" he called again.

            The thunder mouse turned to Cap. "Rai chu!" it called, waving for Cap to follow.

            Cap was about to do so when something suddenly grabbed his leg. He turned to see Sandshrew pulling on him with all its might.

            "Don't do it, Cap," the ground mouse pleaded. "Stay in the boat."

            "Why?!" Cap demanded.

            "You know how Pokémon have a close bond to nature and all that crap? Well, it's true! Something's not right. I can sense it! Raichu? It can take care of itself. But you? You're a regular human! Just get below deck. Please?"

            Cap stared into Sandshrew's eyes. He saw concern and fear. "You're actually showing concern for my safety?"

            "This is no time for jokes!" Sandshrew screamed as it tried to push Cap back below.

            "Alright! Alright!" Cap said.

            The two friends started to head back down, but stopped when the suddenly heard "**_HOLD ON!!!_**" and a sail boat came flying over the rocks. The new arrival crashed landed a few feet away from what was left of the Roc.

            "That was unexpected," Sandshrew said as it and Cap stared at the wreck.

            Sharon stumbled over to the rail and looked at Cap and the mouse. "Hi," she said with a drunken smile.

            "**_SHARON?!_**" Cap and Sandshrew exclaimed at once.

            "Dude," Quest said as he stumbled over next to Sharon, "your girlfriend is crazy!"

            "You're his girlfriend?" Melody asked Sharon as she ran over, perfectly steady.

            "No," Quest said. "I was talking about you!"

            "Oh," Melody said, blushing brightly.

            Cap blushed slightly, but it was hardly noticeable because of his dark skin.

            Just then, a loud shriek was heard. "Now what?" Sandshrew asked. Right before it was struck by a lightning bolt that made it scream out in pain. Several more lightning bolts shot down from the sky, each one barely missing the humans. Cap grabbed Sandshrew and covered it with his body as he tried to run back below.

            "Look!" Melody cried suddenly.

            Cap looked where she was pointing, and dropped Sandshrew.

            Zapdos, the legendary bird of thunder, flew over the rocks, hurling lightning bolts. The thunder god flew over to another rock formation, landed, and fired electricity into the air. It shrieked loudly.

            Sandshrew gulped. "Not in any way good," it muttered.

            "What's it saying?" Cap asked.

            " 'Articuno and Moltres are gone! Only I remain! I claim this island for myself! Come, my minions! Rid this island of the intruding humans!!' "

            Cap gulped. "Minions?"

            There was an explosion from below deck. Pichu jumped out and glared at Sandshrew and Cap, its eyes glowing a demonic red. Cap slowly looked to the stairs and saw Raichu running toward them, its eyes glowing brighter than Pichu's.

            "I guess it's not called the 'God of Thunder' for nothing," Sandshrew muttered. Taking a deep breath, Sandshrew ran forward, grabbed Pichu and threw the small mouse into Raichu as it tried to get back aboard the ship.

            Then out of the clouds, came the flying fortress. Zapdos saw the base, shrieked and started to blast it with electricity. Raichu and Pichu followed its example. However, the base seemed unaffected. In fact, it was absorbing the power.

            "What is that?" Cap asked.

            "Who cares!" Sandshrew shouted. "It's keeping them busy! Let's get out of here!" It started to run off, but Cap grabbed it by the tail and pulled it back.

            "Not without Slade and Nate," he said, glaring at the ground type. "And not without Raichu!"

            "Hello!" Sandshrew shouted. "Raichu is gone, man! I don't like the idea any more than you do, but you try to get it back and you're asking for it!"

            "Believe that if you want to," Cap said, drawing a pokéball. "Raichu, return!"

            Raichu saw the red beam coming toward it. It forgot about the fortress and started to deflect the beam with thunder and lightning attacks.

            Zapdos screeched weakly. It almost fell off the rocks. It tried to fly away, but the base fired another black sphere. This one simply exploded on contact, sending Zapdos down. The thunderbird managed to pull up before it crashed into the two boats, but it could not dodge the metal squares that pulled it, and the boats and their passengers, into the fortress.

            The Collector smiled wide when the Zapdos icon disappeared from the image in front of him, announcing the successful capture of the thunderbird.

            "At last," he whispered. "**_AT LAST!!_** Soon, Lugia will emerge and..."

            "Attention," the computer said suddenly, ruining the Collector's mood. "In capturing Zapdos, something extra came along with it."

            " 'Extra'?" the Collector repeated. "What could have....?"

            Cap slowly opened his eyes. "Oh man," he whispered. "Those squares must have knocked me out somehow."

            He looked to see where he was. He, Sandshrew, Sharon, Quest, Slade, Nate and Melody were in a metal cage, suspended above the floor of a museum like room. He then screamed in shock when he saw what was on display.

            Articuno, trapped in rings similar to the squares, was a few yards directly in front him. Moltres was to his right and Zapdos, struggling furiously, was to his left. Behind him was another holding device, but it was empty. Between the cage and Articuno was a stone tablet with markings Cap couldn't interpret.

            "Horrible, isn't it?" Sharon asked, giving Cap a start. "They've been put on display."

            "Save some for the villain to explain," Sandshrew muttered. "You don't want the movie of this chapter to be a turkey because Cap here didn't follow the rules?"

            "What the hell is that thing bitching about now?" Slade muttered as he came to. He then saw his surroundings. "Well, isn't this just **_great!!_**"

            "Somebody get the trainer of that Cykill," Quest said as he woke up and fixed his shades.

            Melody immediately started to read the stone tablet. "_Do not touch the God of Ice, the God of Thunder, the God of Fire, or the God of Steel. Or the heavens and earth will become enraged, and the world will head towards devastation. The Guardian from the Sea appears to prevent the cataclysm, but will fail without the Chosen One and the world will turn to ash. With the aid of the Chosen One, the Guardian will able to soothe the rage of the gods. Without it, the world is doomed._" She gasped and covered her mouth. "That...that's the legend! That's what the festival revolves around!"

            "You're kidding," Quest said, looking over her shoulder. "Tell me you're kidding."

            "I'm afraid she's serious," the Collector replied as his chair lowered him back to the display room. "You people are the first to enter my museum without invitation. What do you think?"

            "I think you're sick," Sharon said simply. "Keeping these Pokémon in cages. Putting them on display..."

            "But my dear, that's the whole point," the Collector said, grinning as he stood up. "I am not a trainer. I am a collector. I started my collection with a Mew card and it just grew from there. And now, it is only one piece away from completion."

            "But there is no 'God of Steel'!" Melody shouted. "You have to let these birds go! If you don't the world will be destroyed!"

            "Don't try to scare me with fairy tails, girl," the Collector said. "And I'm fully aware about the steel god's nonexistence. I was referring to the Guardian."

            "Attention," the computer suddenly. "Power cells at maximum. Unknown life form detected underwater and heading in our direction. Power readings are off the scale."

            The Collector smiled. "That would be it now." He walked over to his chair, sat back down, and pressed a button. The cage opened and Cap's group fell to the floor. "You can take a good look at my collection. But don't touch! That's just proper etiquette."

            With that the Collector rode his chair back up to the control room. Once his chair was back in place, the computer informed him of an important find.

            "Evidence of the 'God of Steel' located," it droned. "Computer Journal of Doctor Joseph Nemo."

            "Display," the Collector commanded. A screen materialized in front of him, showing the desired text. He read it mentally.

            _"Quest hasn't even been on his journey two days, and he's already claimed to have discovered a new kind of Mechanical Pokémon. He said he was looking for a place to set up camp, when Voltorb insisted that he watched the sky. When Quest looked up (this is all according to him, of course), he saw bright lights, 'a fireworks display,' and a gigantic, white, robotic bird fly into the night sky. He then demanded to know what it was. I tried to convince him that there was no such Pokémon, that he was just tired. But you know Quest. Now he's determined not just to become League Champion, but prove that 'Mekkana' exists. Sometimes I worry about that boy..."_

            "Fascinating," the Collector said when he was done. "Anything else?"

            "Negative."

            "Hmm. Very well. Prepare the lightning launcher to intercept Lugia as soon as it emerges."

            "Acknowledged."

            "Don't bother," said a voice from no where. "Unlike the legend implies, Lugia is not a water type."

            The Collector looked to left and saw a figure standing in the shadows. "Who are you?!" he demanded.

            "Who am I? I'm someone who doesn't want to see history repeat itself," the figure replied. "Lugia was in my grasp once, but I let it get away. As for a name..."

            The figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself. He was six feet tall and at least 40 years old. He had short brown hair and strong face. His eyes seemed to squint. He was dressed pretty normal. He wore a brown jacket, black leather gloves, light green khakis and black dress shoes. "They call me Jekyll," he said finally.

            "Very well, 'Jekyll,' " the Collector said, "what course of action do you recommend?"

            Jekyll pulled out a disk, walked over to the Collector's chair, and put the disk into a drive that was one of the arms. "Download and use that," Jekyll replied.

            Just then, the fortress was rocked by a series of violent explosions.

            "What are we waiting for?!" Sandshrew demanded, as soon as the Collector disappeared into the ceiling. "Let's free these birds!"

            Without waiting for a response, it charged and tried to slash the metal rings that held Articuno, only to be shocked violently by the energy field and sent flying back. Stubbornly, it tried again, but Cap stopped it.

            "Physical force won't work," Cap said. "Swift attack."

            "Got ya!" Sandshrew replied. It took a deep breath and started to spew out a hail of yellow energy stars. However, the stars bounced off.

            Cursing, Cap took out two pokéballs and opened them. "Sin Sai, flash powder! Seamonstra, ice beam!"

            The ninja emerged and instantly started throwing white spheres while Sandshrew continued to use swift. Seamonstra roared before launching a white energy beam from its mouth. The field flickered, but still did not break.

            "Kids got the right idea!" Quest shouted as he let out Ufo. "Quantum beam!"

            The flying saucer blasted out a continuos stream of green energy, hitting the field that contained Zapdos. Sharon let out Vixen, Mariah and Tiger and tried to release Moltres. Vixen let out a powerful flamethrower. Mariah attacked with psybeam, while Tiger used thunderbolt.

            Cap failed to notice however. He was busy watching his team try to break Articuno's prison. He took out his last two balls and opened one. "U-Twos! Water canon and flamethrower!"

            The field flickered brightly, but still did not break.

            "You got any other ideas?" Sandshrew gasped. "I'm running out of stars."

            Cap just opened his last ball and let out War Jay. "Focus energy," he said simply.

            War Jay landed on Cap's shoulder, closed its eyes, and concentrated.

            "Now!" Cap shouted. "Use the most powerful air razor you can!!"

            War Jay shrieked as it became airborne again. It crossed its wings and uncrossed them quickly, unleashing an enormous white energy blade.

            That did it.

            The field exploded as Articuno broke free. It shrieked angrily and fired a blast of blue energy at Zapdos's prison. Quest barely had time to grab Ufo and duck before Zapdos broke free and savagely attacked Articuno. Everyone took cover and recalled any Pokémon that were out, including Sandshrew. A stray shot from the battle released Moltres, who joined in the fray. Finally, Moltres blasted a hole in the wall and flew outside, the other two birds behind it. The fortress tilted and started to crash.

            Melody started to fall out of the hole, but Slade grabbed her and held on to what was left of the empty prison. "I got ya!" he shouted, right as his grip of the cell started to slip.

            "What's wrong?" Melody demanded. She had obviously seen the worried expression on his face.

            "I'm going to let go!" he yelled down to her. "Whatever you do, don't panic! If you do, I'll lose my grip on your wrist! Ready?!"

            Melody swallowed nervously. "Ready!"

            Slade nodded and let go. They started to fall and Slade pulled her as close as he could. When they were clear of the fortress, Slade threw one of his most used pokéballs. The ball traveled a few feet before releasing the graceful Pidgeot. The giant bird flew under and caught Slade and Melody.

            "Thanks, buddy," Slade said as the ball floated back to his hand. "Just bring us to the closest land mass."

            Pidgeot squawked and nodded as it started to bring the two to land.

            "Shh," Slade said when he heard Melody crying. "Don't worry," he said as he stoked her head. "I've lived through worse than this. We'll be okay."

            "What about Cap and the others?" Melody asked.

            "Cap's a smart kid. He'll think of something. Besides, Sandshrew won't let him die unless it's by its hand...."

            Cap held on to the stone tablet for dear life. He saw Ufo carry Quest and Slasher take Sharon. Neither one was able to help him and he dare not let go of the tablet to let out one of his Pokémon. It wouldn't matter if he could let one out anyway. The only one big and strong enough to carry him from such a height couldn't fly.

            "Looks like this is it," he muttered as his grip started to slip. "It'll be nice to see Grandad again..."

            Just then, one of his pokéballs popped open. War Jay emerged, grabbed his coat collar and pulled him away from the tablet. However, despite War Jay's best efforts, the Pokémon and the trainer started to plummet rapidly toward the ocean.

            "Let go!!" Cap cried as they fell. "We're even!! Save yourself!! That's an **order!!**"

            War Jay let out a chirp of defeat and let Cap go. As the raptor watched its trainer fall, it suddenly became very angry. It shrieked loudly and started to glow.

            Cap watched as the ocean became bigger and bigger. "I hope they'll be okay in their balls," he said when he was about a yard away. He closed his eyes and waited for impact.

            Suddenly, Cap hit something soft and dry and started to rise back up. He opened his eyes and saw blue and red feathers. He sat up and saw that he was riding a large, blue and red bird the size of a Pidgeot.

            "What the hell?" he said as he took out his pokédex.

            "War Hawk," it beeped, "the evolved form of War Jay. What causes the evolution is unknown, but it is believed that War Jay can evolve at will, much like Harmony before it."

            Cap looked at the giant bird. "W-War Jay?" he stammered out.

            The bird nodded.

            Cap's vision blurred with tears. "Thank you," he whispered as he laid down on the giant bird and tried to give it a hug.

            War Hawk landed on a snowbank and let Cap climb off. Cap gave it a real hug, wiped his eyes and recalled it. He turned around to see Quest, Sharon and Slade's Pidgeot land safely.

            "Cap!" Melody cried as soon as she got off Pidgeot. She ran over and gave him a big hug. Cap didn't move, his face a mixture of shock and confusion.

            Sandshrew emerged from its pokéball and pushed Melody away. "Alright, break it up!" it shouted. "You two can get a room when we're done saving the world."

            Cap was about to say something when he noticed someone was missing. "Where's Nate?!"

            "Looking for me?" Nate asked as he slowly descended to the ground, surrounded by what looked like half a dozen eggs. When Nate and the eggs landed, Cap could see that they all had scowling faces. "Exeggcute, return."

            "So, what do we do now?" Quest asked.

            Before anyone could say anything, a voice from no where said "So, you're Cap."

            Cap screamed, jumped and turned around. When he didn't see anyone, he looked down and saw the odd looking creature with the frill around its neck.

            "Yeah," Cap responded, somewhat shaken. "Who...what are you?"

            Ding!

            "Slowking," beeped Cap, Slade and Quest's pokédex in unison, "a psychic Pokémon that is believed to evolve from Slowpoke when the Shellder attaches to its head rather than its tail. However, almost no data on this creature is available."

            "I could've told you that," Slowking said, staring up at Cap. "You're four treasures short. You'd better get to work."

            "What?!" Cap shouted. "Could someone please tell me what's going on?!"

            "It's the legend," Melody said. "It's coming true."

            "Oh, peachy," Sandshrew muttered.

            Suddenly, a fireball shot by, followed by a thunderbolt and an ice beam. Each one barley missed the humans and Pokémon.

            "That's it!" Sandshrew shouted, knocking one of Cap's pokéballs from his belt. Sin Sai emerged and glared down at the mouse. "Throw me," Sandshrew said, pointing in the direction of the clashing birds.

            Sin Sai seemed to smile as it picked up Sandshrew and threw it as hard as it could into the fray. Sandshrew screamed as it sailed through the air. It started to glow and a Sandslash was soon in its place. "**_FEAR ME!!!_**" the Sandslash screamed as a war cry.

            The birds failed to notice the Sandslash until it curled into a ball and slammed into Articuno's head. The bird shrieked angrily and fired an ice beam. Sandslash uncurled just in time to be frozen solid and fall to back the ground.

            "**_SANDSHREW!!_**" Cap cried as he tried to run over, but Sin Sai stopped him. An immense blast of fire hit the frozen Pokémon.

            Free of the ice, the Sandslash started to run around madly as it caught of fire. "Hot!" it cried. "Hot!Hot!Hot!Hot!"

            It was then struck by a massive lightning bolt. The blast smothered the flames, leaving the Sandslash blackened. It started to scream, but stopped. "Actually," it said, "that one felt kinda good."

            Cap broke free, ran over, grabbed Sandslash and pulled it back just as another blast hit the spot where it was.

            "What now?!" Slade demanded.

            "You got me," Cap said quietly.

            Then from the ocean, a whirlpool rose, hitting the birds and knocking them back. It rose higher, glowing with an inner light. Something swam through it, casting its shadow on those gathered on the island. A strange, yet familiar sound was heard from the whirlpool, and burst open, revealing what looked like a white aquatic bird. It had large, white wings, with feather-like structures that resembled hands on the end. It had a long white neck that tapered back to a point, with two black points coming up from his eyes. It had two rows of black square-shaped flaps sticking up from its back and it had two legs, and a long tail with two black protrusions on the end.

            "The great Guardian!" Slowking exclaimed in shock. "Lugia!!"

            Above them, Lugia floated in the air, facing the three other birds. It continued to make the strange sound.

            The fortress had crashed into a mountain on Thunder Island. The Collector, who had a small gash on his head, smiled as he saw Lugia emerge through his telescope.

            "It's more beautiful than I could have imagined," he whispered.

            He then felt something cold and metal press against his temple. He moved his eye to the side, and saw Jekyll, apparently unharmed, holding a revolver to his head.

            "Yes, it is," Jekyll said coldly. "And I can't let it fall into the hands of a fool like you. Lugia is mine, and mine alone."

            And with that, Jekyll pulled the trigger.

            Lugia was still floating in front of the shocked birds when Zapdos suddenly attacked. Lugia easily dodged, but all three birds attacked at once. Miraculously, Lugia dodged the assault and slapped Articuno with its hand/wing. Then, before any of the birds could counter attack, it dived into the water. Seconds later, it flew back out, followed by another whirlpool. The water hit Moltres, but Lugia was hit with both a blizzard and thunder attack at the same time.

            Lugia screamed, but continued to skillfully fly and attack. It led the birds up high in the air. They all attacked at once, but an energy shield formed around Lugia, protecting it. Lugia then fired a blast of psychic power, sending all the birds back.

            The three birds started to circle Lugia, each one firing an attack. Lugia either dodged or summoned a shield, then countered. The pattern continued for several minutes.

            Then, all three birds launched their most powerful attack at once. Lugia brought up a shield, but it soon shattered. Lugia screamed as the elemental attacks struck it and plummeted into the ocean. It did not come back up.

            The birds then turned back to fighting each other.

            "Well, we're screwed," Sandslash muttered when it saw Lugia crash into the ocean. The silence that followed seemed to say that everyone else agreed.

            As everyone watched the three birds clash in the air, music started to fill the air. They all turned and saw Melody playing her flute.

            "That music..." Cap said.

            "It's the same sound Lugia was making!" Quest exclaimed.

            "You guys are slow," Sandslash, Sharon and Slade muttered in unison.

            The group was distracted when another whirlpool came blasting out of the water. It broke apart and Lugia was again floating in the air. It floated in front of the group, glowing with a strange rainbow-colored light.

            I thank you, said a deep, telepathic voice. The song revitalizes me. But it will take more than just a song to soothe the Gods.

            "He's talking in our heads," Nate whispered in shock.

            "Wow. Deja Vu," Sandslash said in response.

            "What do you mean?" Cap asked.

            Their rage will be dissipated when the treasures of the God of Fire, God of Ice, God of Thunder and God of Steel are harmonized with the sound of the flute. Lugia explained. The one who can do that is the Chosen One, and it must be a human being.

            Lugia looked down at Cap. Everyone followed its gaze.

            "**_ME?!_**" Cap screamed when he realized everyone was looking at him. "Are you nuts?!"

            "You are the Chosen One," Slowking said.

            He turned to Melody "You said it was just for the tourists!" he shouted at her.

            "It was supposed to be!" she objected. "How was I supposed to know that looney tune was going to make it come true?!"

            Cap opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a scared whimper.

            "Wait a second," Slade said. "Are you trying to say that **this** is the reason Cap was born? So he could save the world from the Legendary Birds?"

            "No," Slowking replied. "However, that is the reason he was brought here."

            "We were brought here because my ship was thrown off course," Slade corrected.

            "How did you know where to find him so you could bring him for a voyage?" Slowking asked Slade. "How did you and your ship survive the storm? Why did his War Hawk bring him here when Ice Island was closer?"

            Slade was about to answer, when he found that he didn't have one. He sighed in defeat.

            "Cap?" Sharon asked, staring at the shocked trainer. "Are you okay?"

            Cap replied by passing out. Sin Sai caught him before he fell into the snow. Sin Sai gently lowered him to the ground as everyone gathered around. About a minute later, Cap slowly opened his eyes again and saw everyone standing over him.

            "He's awake," Sandslash said. "Okay, pal, let's save the world. Again."

            "That wasn't a dream?" Cap asked. It was more of a plea than a question.

            "Sorry, kid," Slade said. "What can we do to help?"

            You must hurry!! exclaimed Lugia. Time grows short!!

            "Cram it!!" Cap shouted as he got back to his feet. "You have any idea how crazy this sounds to me?! Oh sure, I've seen some pretty weird shit, but that doesn't mean you can call me the Chosen One and I'll just jump on board!! Why me, dammit?! What have I done that's so great?! Why not Slade, or Quest?! What about Henry?! This stuff's gotta be the norm for him!! What about that Ash kid?! He--"

            Cap broke off when Sharon suddenly slapped him across the face. "Wake up, Cap!" she shouted as he looked at her, completely shocked. "Who knows why you were picked? The bottom line is that you were!! Now, you can either bitch about it like a worthless Sandshrew, or you can save the world. And you need to realize that the only one comparing you to Ash, is you."

            "Yeah," Sandslash said. "And why you picked him to compare yourself to is beyond me. I mean, he's a total dipwad."

            "That's another thing," Cap muttered. "How come I can still understand you?"

            Sandslash shrugged. "Maybe it has something to do with 'seeing what's in each other's hearts' or some slash like that."

            "Or," Nate said, "it could be that because up till now, all it's said is 'sand.' "

            Cap chuckled, then became deadly serious. "All right!" he shouted. "I may be the Chosen One, but I still can't do this alone. Slade, Nate, Quest and me will each get a treasure from one of the islands."

            "This is unwise," Slowking said. "Only the Chosen One can safely touch the treasures."

            And I can only protect one of you from the Gods, Lugia added.

            "It's a risk we'll take," Slade told the two Pokémon.

            "Right," Quest added. "I'll take Steel Island."

            "And I'll take Ice Island," Nate said. "After growing up through La Primavera winters, it'll be a tropical vacation."

            "I can take Thunder Island," Slade said. "After capturing Pichu, that'll seem like a light shock."

            "That leaves Fire Island for us," Cap said turning to Sin Sai and Sandslash. "You guys ready?"

            "And willing," Sandslash said, holding up its long sharp claws. Sin Sai nodded.

            "Lugia," Cap said, turning to the Guardian. "You're with me. Hopefully, the birds will focus on us, giving the others a clear path." He turned to the girls and Slowking. "You guys stay here and keep safe. We'll be back soon."

            The three nodded.

            Cap nodded back and released War Hawk. He climbed on. Sandslash got in front of Cap while Sin Sai sat down with his back to Cap's. Its sais were in its belt and its hands were full of shuriken and white spheres. Before the took off, Cap watched the others leave. Quest was riding Ufo as close to the water as safety would permit. Slade and Pidgeot were having no problems. Nate had Exeggcute and Butterfree pull him to Ice Island.

            "Alright!" Cap exclaimed. "Let's go!!"

            War Hawk shrieked as it took to the air, Lugia flying above them. No sooner than they left the island, the birds started to attack Cap. Lugia blocked most of the attacks with his force shield or by slamming into the birds. Sin Sai helped by throwing its flash powder spheres and shuriken. Sandslash used a surprisingly strong swift attack.

            However, despite all this, Zapdos's thunderbolt hit War Hawk. The gigantic Raptor screamed and became stiff. Cap and his other two Pokémon fell off. As quick as he could, Cap recalled everyone, clipping the pokéballs back to his belt just as he fell into the deep snow.

            Cap struggled to climb out of the snow drift but only got himself stuck. Cursing, he tried to reach for Seamonstra or the U-Twos' pokéball, but couldn't.

            Then, a hand broke through the snow, reaching out. Cap grabbed the hand without thinking and let it pull him back to the surface.

            Nate arrived safely on Ice Island and his Butterfree promptly fell into his arms, gasping and sweating.

            "Sorry, pal," he said as he got out the bug's pokéball. "Try to rest." Nate recalled Butterfree and Exeggcute and ran up the stairs to the temple. Nate ran through a series of ice-white rooms before arriving in a large room with an alter against the back wall. On the alter was a single blue sphere the size of a pokéball.

            "Here goes..." Nate said quietly as he walked over to the alter. He placed his hand on the orb, only to pull it away as fast as he could.

            "**Cold!**" he shouted. " 'So very, very cold.' " He looked at his hand and saw that it was covered with frost.

            "Now what?" he asked as he blew on his hand, trying to warm it up again. Finally, he got an idea and opened one of his pokéballs.

            An Ivysaur emerged and looked up at Nate expectantly.

            "Grab that ball with your vine whip," Nate said, pointing to the alter.

            "Ivy," the lizard said as it extended the vines from the flower on its back. They touched the white sphere, and froze solid.

            "SAUR!!" Ivysaur screamed as it recoiled its vines. It started to run around in panic. Nate sighed as he recalled it. He thought for a few more minutes and then let out his Arcanine.

            "A fire type should be able to stay un-frozen." 

            The large dog took the sphere its mouth. Its mouth was then sealed shut with ice and the ball still inside.

            Nate put his face into his hand and sighed. A giant sweat drop appeared on the side of his head. Finally, he came up with another idea and tossed his two remaining pokéballs. Vulpix and Pola Bar emerged in a flash of light.

            "Vulpix, defrost Arcanine," Nate sighed. "Pola, catch the ice ball. I hope this works."

            Using its flamethrower, Vulpix slowly but surely unfroze Arcanine's mouth. Once it did, the giant wolf spat out the Ice Treasure. Pola Bar ran after it as the ball rolled on the temple floor, finally catching it in its mouth. It suffered no ill effects.

            Nate grinned broadly. "Pola Bar's an ice type so it can't be frozen!!" He recalled Vulpix and Arcanine, picked up the cuddly bear cub and walked out of the temple. He walked all the way to the shore before he realized something.

            "How the hell am I gonna get back?! No way Butterfree and Exeggcute can carry me **_and_** Pola Bar!!"

            Pola Bar forced itself out of Nate's hands, walked over to the water, and placed its front left paw  in. A small wave of blue energy shot out of the paw and the water froze solid, giving Nate a path straight back to Arshia Island.

            "Have I mentioned lately how much I love you?" Nate asked as Pola Bar walked back up to him.

            Pola Bar seemed to blush as Nate picked it back up.

            With one arm wrapped tightly around Pola Bar and the other holding down his fishing hat, Nate began to trek across the ice back to Arshia Island.

            Slade jumped off of Pidgeot and landed on Thunder Island. He recalled the bird and ran into the temple. When he found the yellow sphere, he carefully placed his hand on it. It made his hair stand on its end. He smirked, picked the sphere up, and was thrown into a wall by a massive discharge of electricity.

            Cursing like a sailor, Slade weakly climbed back to his feet. He looked down at the glowing orb on the floor. He closed his eyes and concentrated. A green crystal image formed on Slade's forehead and he slowly raised his hand. The Thunder Treasure slowly raised with his hand and hovered in front of Slade. He opened his eyes, crystal still glowing on his forehead, and he smiled as the orb floated in front of him. He walked out of the temple, the orb hovering at his side. He let out Pidgeot again and headed back to Arshia Island.

            (Don't worry. I have every intention of writing a story that reveals Slade's origin. As soon as I figure out what it is...)

            Quest held on as tight as he could to Ufo. He thought that by flying close to the water, he would be able to avoid the wind resistance. _If anything,_ he thought, _it's 50 times worse!_

            Quest arrived on Steel Island just as powerful gust of wind threw him off of Ufo. He barely called the flying saucer back before it was lost in the storm. Muttering to himself, Quest climbed to his feet and looked for the stairs to the temple, only to find a pile of smoldering rocks where the stairs once were.

            "Of course," he muttered as he took out two pokéballs. "Cykill! Wyldcat!"

            Two mechanical Pokémon emerged. Wyldcat was a large robotic cat. It was mostly yellow and silver with a long blue tail and glowing red eyes. It had sharp teeth and claws. Cykill was a large motorcycle-like vehicle without a driver and headlights for eyes. It was mostly purple, with silver tail pipes on either side.

            "You think you guys can scale that?" Quest asked, pointing the jagged rocks.

            The two Pokémon looked and nodded.

            "Good," Quest said as he walked over to Cykill. Handlebars popped out the sides of the bike's "head" and a seat unfolded on its back. Quest got onto the bike, put on the helmet it provided for him and buckled up.

            "Cykill," he said, "you're obviously my ride. Wyldcat, you're lookout. You sense anything unusual, let us know."

            And with that, the three scaled up the rocks. Quest was surprised on how fast Cykill went up and wished there was a way to make the ride less bumpy. Wyldcat quickly took the lead, jumping from rock to rock with impossible ease. They finally found what was left of the temple. Quest recalled the robots and squeezed through the doorway.

            Quest soon came about a sphere like the others, only this one was snow white. He was about to pick it up, but stopped himself.

            " 'Only the Chosen One can safely touch the treasures,' " Quest repeated to himself. "That probably means I can't have Databug or Colossus pick it up for me either."

            After thinking for a few minutes, Quest threw a pokéball into the air and a Magneton emerged.

            "Magneton, see if can lift that ball with your magnetism!" 

            "**MAGNETON!**" the magnet said as it crackled with electricity. The white sphere slowly floated off the alter and in front of Magneton.

            "Yes!!" Quest shouted. "Come on! Let's get out of here!"

            Magneton blasted the ruble blocking most of the entryway so that Quest could just run out. Quest immediately let out Wyldcat and Cykill again. They traveled down the mountain with Quest again riding Cykill and Magneton floating behind. They reached the bottom and Quest was about to recall Wyldcat and Cykill, when Wyldcat suddenly turned toward a cave, snarling.

            "What is it?" Quest asked.

            As if to answer his question, the island started to tremble. From the cave came a large, gold and white, mechanical bird. It flew into the air like a jet, its wings extended straight and flames shooting from its golden feet. Its metal wings had feather-like patterns carved into them. Four red barrels were on the end of each wing. It opened its golden beak and let out a robotic shriek as it joined the other three birds.

            "Mekkana," Quest whispered in a mixture of shock, horror, and awe. "We're in deep shit."

            Quest watched in horror as Mekkana flew into the air. He just stared unable to move until a growling sound snapped him out of his trance.

            He turned just in time to see Wyldcat roar and jump after Mekkana.

            "**_Wyldcat, don't!!_**"Quest screamed as he tried to recall the cat, but the red beam missed each time.

            Wyldcat landed on Mekkana's back and started to claw and slash savagely. The bird shrieked in surprise and tried to shake the cat off. When that failed, Mekkana flew into Steel Island's mountain wall, knocking the cat off. As Wyldcat fell, Mekkana aimed the barrels of its wings at the cat and fired a barrage of laser blasts. Each blast hit with deadly accuracy, ripping off chucks of Wyldcat's armor. Wyldcat then fell into the water with a large splash and did not resurface. Mekkana gave one final screech and continued on course.

            Quest let out a stream of angry curses and threw a pokéball to the ground. From the ball emerged a large robotic dragon. It was seven feet tall and bright red. It had a long neck and equally long pointed tail. The head had two long, savage horns coming off its back. Its mouth was filled with sharp metal teeth. It had yellow eyes on either side of its head with black lines for pupils. It had two enormous wings on its back giving it a wingspan of 10 feet. It had two massive legs and two small, but powerful arms. The dragon's fingers ended with sharp black claws. The dragon roared in rage. Magneton and Cykill hid behind rocks, leaving Quest to face the beast.

            The dragon roared and was about to fire on Quest when the trainer suddenly held up his hand.

            "Just **_SHUT UP_** for a second!" he shouted.

            The dragon froze in place, shocked by Quest's bravery. Or foolishness.

            "I can't risk riding Ufo back," Quest said calmly. "Now, you can either kill me and die with the rest of the world before you get a chance to enjoy it. Or, you can give me and Magneton a ride, be a hero, and then go back to trying to murder me."

            The dragon stopped to consider this, and the finally turned around so Quest could climb on its back.

            Quest smiled, recalled Cykill and got on the dragon's back. Magneton hovered in front of the dragon and attached to its metal skin. With a mighty roar, the dragon spread its wings and headed to Arshia Island.

            Cap felt himself land on what felt like metal. He opened his eyes and saw he was on what looked like a floating metal surfboard. Then finally looked at his savior, and almost fell back into the snow.

            Grendel was standing on the hover board, wearing a armored version of his usual costume. White lines served as the armor's eye holes and his gauntlets had no pokéballs attached.

            "You're dead," Cap said hoarsely. "No one could've survived that."

            "And yet I did," Grendel said calmly. "However, I am far from whole. My left arm and right eye are now completely cybernetic."

            "What do you want?" Cap asked.

            "To help you."

            "**_WHAT?!_**"

            "One cannot conquer the world if there is no world to conquer. And as you can see," he gestured to Lugia, who was in the middle of another battle with the three Gods, "you have no choice but to trust me and accept my aid."

            "Take me to Fire Island," Cap said grimly.

            Grendel simply nodded. The hover board suddenly jetted through the air, nearly knocking Cap off. The unlikely pair arrived at Fire Island in almost no time and they both jumped off. Cap was about to run up the stairs, but Grendel grabbed his shoulder.

            "Give me your War Hawk," he commanded.

            "Get bent!" Cap spat.

            "Do not toy with me, boy!" Grendel said coldly. "I have the means to heal it. You may need it to escape here. You have to trust me."

            Cap threw the ball at Grendel and said, "Hurt it, and I will KILL you." With that Cap ran up the stairs. Halfway up, Sandslash emerged and ran alongside its trainer.

            "You really gonna trust that son of a slash?" it asked.

            "Like he said," Cap muttered darkly, "we don't have much choice."

            "Yeah, but you just handed him War Hawk! How do you know he's still there?"

            "I don't," Cap replied simply as they reached the alter. Cap walked over and picked up the red sphere. Once it was in its hand, it started to glow like a fire was burning inside it. He pocketed it and ran back out, Sandslash right behind.

            When Cap met up with Grendel again, the fingers of the villain's armor were smoking. In front of him was a smoldering heap barely recognizable as the body of Cap's Raichu.

            "It was looking for you," Grendel said calmly. "It was possessed. I had no choice."

            "**_Tauros shit!_**" Cap screamed. "You could've done 50 others things than kill it!!"

            "Let me at him!" Sandslash shouted, stepping forward. Cap stopped it.

            "No," he said coldly. "We still need him."

            "A wise decision, boy," Grendel said as he tossed Cap War Hawk's pokéball and summoned the hover board. The board floated down to them and they all got on.

            The flight back was much more treacherous. Random blasts from all four Legendary Birds forced Grendel to preform a series of dangerous maneuvers.

            "Where'd that metal one come from?!" Sandslash cried.

            "It must be Mekkana!!" Cap cried in response as the board flipped up-side-down. "I guess Quest isn't crazy!!"

            "I'll have to apologize!!" Sandslash said. "Maybe I'll spare him in the Uprising!!"

            Then, Lugia flew along side the board. The Treasure?

            "Talk about your one-track minds..." Sandslash muttered.

            "I have it!" Cap shouted, patting his pocket.

            Get on my back, Lugia said as the black fins on its back flattened against its body.

            Cap nodded and jumped onto the Guardian. "Now, Sandslash!" he cried.

            "Right!" the ground mouse said right before it sliced the hover board in two and then joining Cap.

            "What are you doing, boy?!" Grendel cried as the section of the board he was on started to spiral out of control.

            "Avenging Raichu," Cap said coldly and he watched Grendel fall. "And paying you back for all the hell you put me and my friends through."

            Grendel screamed in rage as he plummeted into the ocean. He fell into the water with a massive splash, and did not resurface.

            "And stay dead!" Sandslash shouted grimly.

            Slade's Pidgeot gracefully dodged the random shots from each of the birds, which proved even more difficult when Mekkana joined the fray.

            "Fly as high above them as you can!!" Slade ordered suddenly. "They'll be less likely to hit you!"

            _I'm way too out of practice,_ Slade thought with difficulty as Pidgeot obeyed. He glanced at the Thunder Treasure floating behind him. _It's taking all I got to keep this glass ball from trailing behind. And if it gets to far away, I'll "drop" it!_

            Then it became obvious Slade's plan was a mistake. Moltres noticed them and started to fly toward them. It was about to use a fire spin when a Dragonite shot out of no where and slammed into Moltres. It then flew alongside Pidgeot.

            "R-Rage?" Slade stammered weakly.

            The Dragonite nodded.

            Slade forced a smirk. "So, you'll evolve for them, but not me, eh?"

            Rage smirked back and dived after Moltres again. However, this time the firebird dodged and launched an X of fire at Slade. Pidgeot tried to pull up, but was hit. It screeched in pain as its feathers caught fire. Thrashing in pain, the bird threw Slade off.

            Slade concentrated as hard as he could on the yellow sphere as he reached under his shirt again. This time, he pulled out a jet black pokéball, which released a battle scarred and elder Fearow. The Fearow flew under Slade and caught him.

            "Thanks, Fear," he whispered weakly. "Sorry to bring you out of retirement."

            The Fearow cawed in a tone that said "Not a problem."

            As the older bird pulled up, Slade saw what was left of Pidgeot's body floating in the water. Slade suddenly became very angry.

            "They killed Pidgeot, Fear," he said through clenched teeth. "It was my very first Pokémon. I stole the egg from its mother's nest and raised it from birth. It stayed loyal. It helped rescue us."

            "I remember," said the tone Fear's squawk.

            "Good bye old friend," Slade said weakly.

            Cap and Sandslash held on tightly to Lugia as the Guardian streaked through the air, dodging attacks.

            "Well, at least their not attacking the others," Cap said.

            "Lucky them," Sandslash muttered.

            Just then, a blast from Articuno got past Lugia's shield and caused the Guardian to slow down. It struggled to speed up.

            "We gotta help him somehow!" Cap cried.

            "I'm open for suggestions!!" replied Sandslash.

            As if to answer Sandslash, War Hawk suddenly emerged. It faced the birds, shrieked, and was instantly surrounded by dozens and dozens of War Jay and Harmony. War Hawk shrieked again and there was a bright flash. When it died, the sky was filled with War Jay and Hawk. Cap's gave a final cry and they all charged the Legendary Birds.

            "Yeah!" Sandslash cried. "Show 'em whose boss, Hawky, and your kind will be spared!"

            "Do you ever quit with that crap?!" Cap demanded. "This is serious!!"

            "So am I!!" Sandslash retorted with a sick grin.

            Suddenly, a blast of purple energy shot out from no where and struck Lugia. The beast screamed but continued forward.

            "What the slash was that?!" Sandslash cried.

            "There!" Cap shouted, pointing to Thunder Island. "It's that base!!"

            "You mean that dumb-slash is **_still_** trying to capture Lugia?!"

            Another blast soon followed, which in turn was followed by a pair of diamond restraining units.

            Inside the fortress, Jekyll smiled.

            "Excellent," he said to himself. "My night shade cannon works better than I thought. But did it weaken the creature enough...?"

            Lugia destroyed the capture units with a surge of power. Cap had to wrap his arms around Lugia's neck to stop from falling. Sandslash had its arms wrapped around Cap's neck.

            Lugia roared in anger. A small ball of light formed in its mouth, and then bal grew into a powerful energy beam. The attack sliced through what was left of the fortress, but still another purple ray was fired. This blast knocked Cap and Sandslash off of Lugia and...

            "**_WE'RE FALLING TOWARDS THE OCEAN!!!_**" Sandslash cried in horror.

            Cap quickly recalled the mouse, and was about to reach for War Hawk, when he remembered what just happened.

            "Oh, yeah," were the last words he muttered before he plummeted into the water and passed out.

            Lugia screamed as it was hit by a barrage of night shade blasts. Another pair of diamond capture units was fired. Lugia struggled against their pull, but was too weak. With one final blast, Lugia made the units explode. However, the explosion forced it down. It plunged into the water and started to sink.

            I have failed, it said sadly as. It closed it's eyes.

            It's over...

            Jekyll screamed as what left of the fortress started to catch fire.

            "Warning!" the computer called out suddenly. "Night shade cannon has overheated!! Evacuate! Evac--"

            The computer stopped when the terminal in front of Jekyll exploded.

            On Arshia Island, Slowking, Melody and Sharon watched the battle between the four Legendary Birds, the War Jay and Hawk, and a lone Dragonite. They watched as several of the raptors fell into the water. Some flew back up to the fray. Others did not.

            "This is only slowing the process down," Slowking said calmly. "This is still serious."

            Then, a powerful hyper beam from the Dragonite sent Moltres crashing into Ice Island.

            "That's a step in the right direction," Sharon said, "but where is everyone?"

            As if on cue, a blob of water shot out of the ocean and landed in the snow. Inside the blob, was an unconscious Cap. The water moved away and formed into very worried Seamonstra. Sharon and Melody ran over.

            "Is he...?" Melody started.

            "No," Sharon said. "But he's barely hanging on."

            Seamonstra made a pleading growl and looked at the two women.

            "We'll do what we can," Sharon told the sea monster.

            Cap laid on the ground, curled into a fetal position and surrounded by swirling white mist.

            "Cap, get up!" a voice called from somewhere in the mist.

            "No," came Cap's quiet reply. It was hard to tell if he made a sound at all.

            "I don't remember giving you a choice," the voice said.

            "I don't care," whispered Cap. "It's too much."

            "Please! This from the kid you stood up to Mastermind, Grendel and the Order of the Dragonheed? Get up, kid. They need you."

            "I don't care!" Cap shouted, suddenly becoming loud. "I've never dealt with anything of this scale!! Mastermind took what he wanted and left the fucking universe! Grendel only wants to conquer the world! And the Order? They're nothing but a cult of thieves and assassins! I've never actually had to save the world!! What do you know, anyway?"

            "More than you think," the voice said calmly. The mist started to swirl and soon, a familiar figure stood over Cap.

            Cap looked up, and bolted to his feet. "Henry?!"

            "Yeah, it's me," Henry said. "And I'll tell you Cap, if I can do this kind of thing, you sure as hell can. You're the better man for the job. Besides, you can't just give up..."

            "Why not?" Cap demanded. "I don't have anything to really live for. I've got no family."

            "What about your friends?" Henry asked.

            "They'll get along fine without me."

            "You don't get it, kid," Henry said darkly. "If you die now, the world goes 'boom.' There's no back up chosen one to take your place. So, if you don't stop being a selfish son of a bitch, we all go with you."

            Cap and Henry just glared at each other for a while.

            "Is it really that bad?" Cap asked quietly.

            Henry nodded.

            Cap didn't say anything.

            "What would your Grandad want you to do?" Henry asked quietly.

            Cap shot Henry a cold look, but then sighed. "You win," he muttered.

            Then there was a bright flash of white light...

            Back in the real world, Cap suddenly bolted back to life, sitting up.

            "Cap!" Melody cried happily.

            "Are you okay?" Sharon asked.

            Cap ignored them as he dug around in all his pockets, finally pulling out the red sphere with the burning internal flame. He bolted to his feet and ran over to Slowking.

            "What do I do?" he asked desperately.

            Slowking pointed up some snow covered stairs. "Place the Treasures on their pedestals," Slowking said calmly.

            Cap nodded and ran up the stairs. What he found was four stone pedestals surrounded by stone pillars, all covered with ancient writing. The four pedestals faced each of the four islands. Cap walked over to pedestal facing Fire Island and placed the orb on it.

            "Warmth of the Flame," he found himself saying as he did.

            He turned around and saw Nate running up the stairs with Pola Bar. Nate leaned against a pillar, gasping for air. Pola Bar forced itself out of Nate's hands again, trotted over to Cap, and set the orb at his feet.

            "Thank you," Cap said as he picked up the blue orb. It glowed with a strange blue light as soon as he touched it. "Cold of the Ice," he said as he set it down on the pedestal facing Ice Island.

            He looked over just as Quest's dragon landed next to Nate.

            "Tekkadragon, return!" Quest said before he even got off the robotic creature's back. Magneton floated over to Cap and dropped the white sphere into his hand.

            Cap watched as the white orb suddenly filled with what looked like moving computer code (Like in "The Matrix").

            "Strength of the Steel," Cap said as he placed the Treasure on the appropriate stand. He looked around. "Where's Slade?"

            Slade had his hands to his temples and eyes closed as tight as he could. The crystal on his forehead started to fade.

            "Are we almost there?" he asked through clenched teeth.

            Fear squawked a "yes."

            "Good," Slade muttered weakly. Then, despite his efforts, his concentration lapsed, the crystal disappeared, and the Thunder Treasure started to fall.

            "**_NO!_**" Slade cried. And without thinking, he jumped off the Fearow. The bird shrieked in surprise and dived after its trainer.

            Slade easily caught up with orb and grabbed with both hands. He screamed as electrical power surged painfully through his body.

            Cap looked up in time to see Slade fall from the sky and into a snow bank. He ran over to his friend. Slade didn't even look up as he stiffly handed Cap the treasure, and then collapsed on his back.

            Cap looked at the ball, which filled with miniature lightning. He faced Slade again when the elder trainer called him.

            Slade reached under shirt and pulled out five pokéballs. Each one was a different color. Blood red, pure white, metallic purple, bright silver, and the empty blue and black ones the were home to Rage and Fear.

            "Promise me," Slade whispered weakly, "that you'll take care of them, or find someone you know who will."

            "Slade..."

            "Promise me!" he shouted with great effort.

            "Okay," Cap said, "but you'll be fine. You have to be!"

            "Never lose that optimism," Slade said, his voice cracking. He then slowly closed his eyes. "Never lose hope..."

            Cap started to walk away, tears forming in his eyes, when Slade suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him close, so that they were face to face.

            "One more thing," he said, weaker than ever. "Fail, and I'll see you in Hell."

            And with that, he finally let Death take him.

            Cap got up, wiped tears from his eyes, and forced himself to become calm. Standing straight and taking big steps, he marched over to the last pedestal, placed the treasure on it, and said "Wrath of the Lightning."

            There was a rumbling sound and each of the orbs suddenly shot a beam of light into the air, matching the color of the treasure it came from. Without really knowing what he was doing Cap stood in the center of the pedestals, and started to speak.

            "_God of Ice! God of Thunder! God of Fire! God of Steel! I am the Chosen One and I commanded you to be calm! Let the chaos end!_"

            When he stopped, all the snow vanished, revealing that the top of the mountain was like a huge outdoor temple. A strange green liquid started to run out from under the pedestals, flowing out and down around the chamber in channels until they reached the stone pillars. The pillars then all glowed green, and seemed to turn to crystal.

            Cap turned around and saw Melody running up the steps, flute in hand. She stood next to Cap and began to play, the pillars flashing in sync with her music. As her music filled the air, the liquid started to spread, covering all of Arshia Island. It continued to spread, covering the other four Islands, restoring all the damage.

            As the music continued, Articuno, Mekkana, Zapdos, Rage and the flock of raptors slowly stopped fighting. Moltres soon rejoined them, and they just hovered in the air, listening.

            All the raptors flew toward the Island. The started to circle above, doing a strange aerial dance in step to music. They started to glow. When the light died, they had all de-volved back into Harmony. The doves perched on the glowing pillars and started to add their own lovely song to Melody's flute.

            Cap watched all this with amazement. _Harmony has been restored!_ he thought.

            Melody continued to play. With her eyes closed, she seemed completely oblivious to what was going on.

            The sky suddenly cleared, revealing the bright sun. The four Legendary Birds began to fly together. Peacefully. Another whirlpool emerged from the ocean, and Lugia again appeared, singing along with its own haunting version of Melody's music.

            Lugia flew down to the temple, landed and lowered its head. It looked at Cap.

            Cap started to say 'no,' but before he could, Nate and Quest pushed him forward. He sighed and climbed onto Lugia's back. Cap held onto his hat as Lugia took off. He was scared at first, but his fear died when he saw his surroundings.

            Lugia was flying with the Legendary birds flying above, below and on either side of it.

            "They're beautiful," Cap whispered, and defying common sense, reached out to the right, and touched Articuno. To his surprise, the feathers were soft and cool. Comforting, not freezing. He reached out to the left and touched Moltres. The flames were warm and relaxing. They didn't burn.

            Cap looked down and saw all the Pokémon that had gathered leaving for home. The crisis was over.

            "It's over," Cap said, as if he had just realized this fact. He let out a whoop of joy. He took his hat off and started waving it madly in the air. "**_IT'S OVER!! YEE-HAHA!_**"

            Lugia just smiled. The birds broke formation and Lugia brought Cap back down to the island. Cap jumped off, put his hat back on and looked at Lugia.

            You've demonstrated bravery beyond your years, Lugia told Cap. I foresee many great things in your future. But remember to heed your friend's advice. You must not lose hope. Good-bye, Cap. I hope we never have to meet again.

            With that, Lugia dived back into the ocean and vanished.

            "Yeah," Cap said, "I hope we never meet again either."

            "This was getting serious," Slowking said, much later. "I'm glad it turned out to be not so serious after all."

            Slowking, Seamonstra, Pola Bar, Magneton, Sharon, Nate, Quest and Melody were at the foot of Arshia Island.

            "You and me both, pal," Quest said, leaning against a stone wall. "Now, if I could only get Tekkadragon to stop trying to kill me..."

            "And if I could get a girlfriend..." Nate added sadly.

            "...things would be perfect," Quest finished with a smile.

            "Where's Cap?" Melody asked.

            "Up on the platform," Quest said, pointing.

            Melody ran up the stairs leading to the top of the mountain, Seamonstra at her heels.

            "Even CAP has a girlfriend!" Nate whined.

            Just then, a helicopter landed several yards away. As the group stared, a girl with blonde hair came out. "QUEST!" she cried, running over to the mechanical trainer.

            "Sara?!" Quest said in shock as the girl jumped into his arms and started planting kisses on his face.

            " 'I will die alone,' " Nate muttered sadly as he watched the couple. Then, the last thing he ever expected to happen, happened.

            Sharon sighed, grabbed his arms, pulled him over and kissed him deeply. Nate's eyes went wide, but then he closed them. After exactly one minute, Sharon let go and Nate fell to the ground.

            "No one saw," Sharon said without looking down at him. "And you'd better not tell anyone, either. Or I'll kill you."

            "Okay," Nate said dreamily. "No one would believe me anyway."

            Quest finally had to push Sara away so he could breathe. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

            "I was worried," Sara said. "Everything was going crazy, and I didn't know where you were and..."

            "Shh," Quest said. "It's okay." He then saw Race glaring at them from next to the helicopter. "Hey, Race!" Quest called. "I just helped save the world! What have you done?!"

            Race snarled and turned away. Quest smirked at his victory. Quest then became very sad.

            "What's wrong?" Sara asked.

            "I got some bad news, babe," he said quietly. "It's about Wyldcat...."

            Cap stood on the top of Arshia Island, looking out to the horizon. "**_WAAAAR HAAAWK!!!_**" he called out for the twentieth time in half as many minutes.

            "Cap?" Sandslash said softly at his side. "It's not coming back..."

            Cap ignored the mouse. "**_War JAY!! HARMONY!! Whoever!! Just come back!!_**"

            When there was no response of any kind, Cap fell to his knees. "This is my fault, Sandshrew," Cap whispered sadly. "If I hadn't tried to catch it back in the forest, it never would of evolved and...and..."

            "It's not your fault," Sandslash said, putting its arm on Cap's shoulder. "It **chose** to evolve. It **chose** to stay with you. It **chose** to evolve again. And it **chose** to give its life. You can't blame yourself."

            There was a flash and Sin Sai emerged, placing its hand on Cap's other shoulder. Cap looked up and saw there were tears in the ninja's eyes. Cap gave a small smile and stood up.

            "I forgot how close you guys were," he said softly.

            Sin Sai nodded and looked to the horizon. It bowed sadly.

            Cap looked off to where Slade's body rested. Rage and Fear were nudging the body, trying to get their master to wake up.

            "We all lost something in this," Cap whispered. He walked over to the two Pokémon. Rage looked at him, tears in its eyes. Cap unclipped from his belt the colored pokéballs Slade had given him and handed them to the Dragonite.

            The two Pokémon looked at him, confused.

            "He told me to make sure you guys are taken care of," Cap said, trying not to cry. "I think you guys can take care of each other better than anyone else could."

            Rage nodded. It took off Slade's belt and put it on. It attached the pokéballs to the belt and then gently lifted Slade's body. It started to say something.

            Sandslash started to translate before Cap even asked. " 'Thank you. My Master has a home in the mountains where I know he would want to be his resting place. We will take him there, and then guard him with our lives. The Master has given much to us. This is the least we can do.' "

            Cap nodded and patted Rage on the back. "Good luck."

            With that, Rage and Fear took to the air, soon vanishing in the distance.

            "Cap! Look!" Sandslash cried out suddenly. It pointed down the far end of the temple. Standing there, missing an ear, pieces of its tail, both of its electric sacks and several tufts of fur, was Raichu.

            Cap ran over without giving a second thought. He tried to hug the electric mouse, but it jumped away. It started talking and Sandslash translated.

            " 'I just came to see if you were alright and to say good bye..."

            Cap quickly got on his knees, grabbed Raichu and held it in a tight embrace. "You're not going anywhere," he said, tears running down his face. "Not until the day I die."

            Raichu pushed away and started talking. " 'But I attacked you!!' " Tears formed in its eyes. " 'You're the only nice human I've ever met and I attacked you!! How can you look at me?!' "

            "It wasn't you're fault," Cap said. "My Pokémon are all I have, and I'll be damned if I lose another one today."

            " 'I can't do attacks anymore. Not even a mega punch..."

            "I don't care. All I care about right now is the fact that you're alive."

            Raichu sobbed and fell into Cap's lap. Cap was so happy, he almost didn't notice Seamonstra wrap its arms around him from behind and Melody walk in front of him.

            "Are you okay?" she asked.

            "As well as can be expected," Cap replied. He picked up Raichu as he stood up. "Let's go guys. I have someone I want to visit..."

            Jekyll walked through the remains of the fortress. He angrily kicked a steel beam, knocking it back and revealing a strange card. Jekyll picked it up. It had a picture of a Mew and was covered with strange markings.

            "How it all began," he said with a sneer. "And no doubt how it would begin again."

            He tore the card to shreds and threw the pieces to the ground.

            "Pathetic."

            Grendel's head broke through the surface of the now calm ocean. The villain removed the section of his mask around his mouth, allowing him to take in air directly. Gasping, he swam to the shore of the nearest island. He just stood there on his hands and knees, breathing deeply.

            "That boy," he said coldly. "I'll kill him slowly..."

            He drifted off and looked up. He was surrounded by an army of men and women dressed in familiar black uniforms. Slayers.

            Grendel narrowed his eyes when he heard a dry, sinister chuckle. "Mandarin..." he said coldly.

            The Slayers parted to let Mandarin through. "The Great Dragonheed has bestowed many gifts to us," he said as he walked towards Grendel. "It ended the crisis so that we did not have to hunt for sacrifices and perform difficult incantations." He pointed his rings at Grendel's head. "And It has delivered to us our most hated traitor."

            The area was filled with black light and Grendel's screams could be heard for miles.

            The next day...

            "I know you're not buried here," Cap said. "But as far as I'm concerned, this is where you'll always be.

            "Guess what I did yesterday?" He chuckled. "I saved the world! Yeah, I'm not sure I believe it myself. But I did. Sandshrew helped. I know. I don't think anyone expected that. Or that it would evolve."

            Cap sighed sadly. "But, there was a lot of tragedy. Remember Slade? He's gone. Me and my friend Quest both lost Pokémon. My friend Nate lost what little dignity he had."

            He chuckled again. "I don't know why I'm telling you this. You probably know all this already. Including how I almost screwed up. I just wish I could tell you face to face, and **hear** what you have to say. I miss you, Grandad. I wish you were still alive. I wish being here didn't make me so sick with grief. This is my **home!** I belong here."

            Cap wiped tears from his eyes. "I gotta go, Grandad. I can't keep everyone waiting. I love you."

            Cap stood up and walked out of what was once the kitchen of a farmhouse. Outside the house were the remains of what had once been a large farm. On the other side of a broken, rotting fence, stood Sandslash, Sharon, and Melody.

            "How is he?" Sandslash asked when Cap rejoined the group.

            "Good," Cap said. "He wanted to know why you didn't come say hello, though."

            "Next time, tell him that to get there I have to walk past where my mother died..."

            "Understood." He turned to Melody. "What's your story?"

            "I thought I'd join up with you guys for a while," Melody replied quietly. "My sister's just gonna kill me when she finds out I took her boat, anyway."

            "Welcome," Sharon said warmly. "It'll be nice to have a girl to talk to. Be careful about that rat, though."

            "I'm standing right here!" Sandslash shouted.

            "What do you say, Cap?" Melody asked.

            "Welcome," Cap replied, smiling warmly. Melody returned the smile.

            "Yuck!" Sandslash cried. "Could you two please get a room!"

            "Visualize the eyeball!"

            "Visualize my longer, sharper, fully evolved claws though your throat!"

**_THE END!_**

_And now, because he felt like it, Spider Striker shamelessly presents:_

**_Sandshrew's Rescue Adventure!_**

(Stop reading. You have been warned.)

            We see three silhouettes trekking up a hill at sunset. On is tall and obviously female. Another is a shorter boy of about 12. And the other is an all too familiar rat...

            **Sandshrew:** Hey! I am not a rat! I'm a mouse!! Actually, I'm not even a mouse really...

            **Writer:** Quiet, rat!

            Lightning shoots out of the sky, and hits the rat, but it doesn't seem to feel it.

            **Sandshrew:** I'm a ground type, stupid!

            It then starts to rain on the rat.

            **Sandshrew:** D'oh!

            Anyway, the three shadows make it to the top of the hill just as it gets dark. A tree is on the top of the hill.

            **Sharon:** I think we should set up camp for the night.

            **Cap:** You're right. Good night, Sharon.

            **Sharon:** Good night, Cap.

            Sharon watches as Cap climbs into the tree and then looks at the rat.

            **Sharon:** What about you?

            **Sandshrew:** I can't sleep when it's RAINING ON ME!

            The rain stops.

            **Sandshrew:** Thanks for nothing...

            The rat climbs up after Cap. Sharon shakes her head and starts to set up camp. Later, after everyone's asleep, there's a bright flash. Another shadow jumps from the tree. Camera cuts to Sin Sai, not a shadow of the ninja, standing on a tree stump, practicing its fighting. It continues for several minutes, undisturbed. Then, suddenly, a creature that is so hideous it is undescribable jumps out of the shadows, screaming. Sin Sai gives a start, losses its balance in mid kick and falls down a hole that was next to the tree stump. The creature starts laughing hysterically, pulling back its face to reveal it was just Sandshrew wearing an ugly mask.

            **Sandshrew:** Oh man! The look on your face! I...Sin Sai?

            It finally notices the ninja is gone. It looks around and notices the hole. It peers down the hole.

            **Sandshrew:** Sin Sai? You down there?

            A hail of shuriken fly out in reply.

            **Sandshrew:** Oh man! It's just hanging on! I gotta do something! Ah! I got it!

            It runs off screen. A lot of groaning and grunting is heard and then Sandshrew stumbles back on screen, carrying a large rock over its head. It throws the rock down onto the hole, closing it off. Sandshrew chuckles evilly as it dusts its paws off. It stops as it looks at the screen.

            **Sandshrew:** What?! Think of who you're watching, people. This shouldn't be a surprise.

            With that, Sandshrew walked off, chuckling evilly to itself. I told you not to read this.

**_The End_**


End file.
